All dressed in white for church, but one boy already changed into play clothes

This is the prep classroom 

These girls are at the pump where they fill their buckets with water for everything.

Vincent, Clinton, and Dickson, three boys in the primary school.

In Cape Coast we stayed at a hotel that had alligators hanging with us.  They were pretty close!

This is at Kakum National Park, a canopy walkway that is high up with the trees!  It was a lot of fun and beautiful to see the rainforest from up there!

This is one true Ghanaian meal called Banku.  The white ball was the texture of sour dough but was pretty tasteless.  They don't use silver wear and eat with their right hand.  We rolled little pieces of the dough and then dipped it in the red sauce, then swallowed it without chewing.  

Adwoa and Matilda, two girls in JSS 1.  They are very smart and work so hard in school, I loved to be with these girls.

This is Lina, a girl in Kindergarten that would always find me when we went to the school at night and stick with me.  She loved to hold my bag and my hand - we were great friends!

Jumping at Shai Hills, we saw monkeys, antelope, bats, birds, and scorpians.  We also got our trotro stuck in this grassland and had quite the adventure getting it out.  

LaraLeigh, Catharine, and I

The girls wanted to learn some American style of dance so I taught them some ballet moves.  

It rained all the time, especially in July because of the rainy season!  Priscilla, Lina and I were hiding under the cover of my umbrella.

All of the girls in my group - plus a few Ghanaians!  Nicole, Charity, Kelsey, LaraLeigh, Brynn, Suzy, Catharine, Me and Lyndsey.

We took a trip to the Accra temple to do baptisms.  It was beautiful!

Our favorite treat - toasties.  Two thick slices of delicious bread coated with choco and peanut butter, toasted on the stove to a crispy delight!

Here is the Junior High School Prep class that I spent most of my time with teaching

Home Stretch

I can’t believe I really am on the home stretch! Two months has been a good amount of time to spend here, but I just can’t imagine saying goodbye to these kids. I sat in class today just looking at the prep students working and it made me want to cry, I love them all! And then there are all the younger kids I have gotten close to – it’s going to be rough. But so good at the same time, I can’t help but look forward to a comfortable bed, warm shower, a blow dryer and straightener, make-up, different clothes to wear and American food.

Last Thursday we all went to the town Koforidua to a local bead market. Tent after tent was filled with colorful beads all shapes and sizes either hung on strings or losely available to make your own jewelry. The people were not pressing to buy things which was nice so we were able to just meander around their little tables for an hour or two. It was raining all that morning but luckily cleared up by the time we got there. It really feels like every since July hit it has just been super rainy and cloudy and not much sun out which is nice but actually much cooler than I expected. I actually get the chills sometimes in the morning at school if my hair is wet. The one other downside is if I use the bucket water that has been sitting in the bathroom all night for my shower then it is extra cold – it’s quite the wake-up! Anyways, the bead market was really awesome but there were so many that it was overwhelming.

One afternoon when I went to the school in the afternoon I had my umbrella because it was raining. When we walk down this hill to get to the school the kids often see us and come running from far away to give us a big hug and walk the rest of the way down. After then ran up we sauntered our way back down with as many little girls crammed under my one man umbrella as possible. The pulled out long wood benches to sit on and we spent the afternoon stuck under the dining cover playing games of pass the animal or hand clapping rhythms. They all want your attention, some to cuddle, others grabbing at your face, others standing back acting shy, and kids asking me for band-aids. I finished all of my band-aids now so it is actually nice to be able to just say they are all finished. This weekend I started teaching the waltz and that has been a hit with a few students. The little kids hit their way into my arms so I will teach them and some of the JSS boys will stand back and watch as if they don’t want anything to do with it, but then when they think I’m not looking I see them doing the steps. It is pretty funny. There is one boy named Daniel who is in P-4 who is always the first to join in anything like dancing – ballet, waltz, and then braiding my hair J He is the best, and actually was really talented with the dancing. He makes me laugh.

One night a boy from the High School came and taught Charity and I how to play some drum rythms. He was really good and I caught on but couldn’t remember the rhythms. He expected me to play the rhythm once and then be able to do it on my own after that – it was like the girls teaching us dancing where we see it once and then are supposed to know it after that.
Saturday morning was really adventurous. As you probably heard, Obama came to Ghana last Friday and Saturday. He spent time in Accra and Cape Coast. Well I had to go to Accra to find my stolen bag of material and other things from the art district. It was just three of us, Lyndsey and Charity came with me. We were in traffic for about 2 ½ hours trying to get into the city because of Obama. They had closed some of the main roads down so everyone was taking a one way back road. When I got to the art district the man that had taken my bag was, of course, not there. Another man ended up paying for the items that were in the bag so I was able to replace the fabric. It was difficult to find what I wanted. We were in Accra for about 3 hours and then got back on a 2 hour trotro back home in the afternoon. It was a long morning! As our big yellow trotro ride home pulled out of the station one man directly in front of the mate stood and faced the car full of people. He began speaking in Twi and as I looked around noticing bowed heads and closed eyes I realized that he was praying! Then I thought he was a preacher after they said amen & he continued talking until he started pulling a variety of leaves, seeds, pepper, and plants out of his black leather bag. I then realized he was a medicine man trying to sell his various remedies. For two hours he was trying to talk up his drugs (at least I think, he was speaking in twi the whole time so who really knows) for the people to buy and I randomly heard the words Malaria, Fever, and Vomit. And a few people actually bought the stuff from him! At one point he passed around this pepper that a few stuck on their fingers and sniffed up their noses. Not long after they continuously sneezed up for the ride home – the man next to Charity sneezed on her and she had the most disguested look on her face, it was really funny. And other Ghanaians were laughing too. It was interesting.

We went to church with the Primary and Junior High students for our last Sunday here. We all wore our African clothes and jewelry and the kids loved it! During their singing time I got up their and led a song that some girls had taught me before. All of us got up and signed “As I Have Loved You”. That song was quite the different rhythm than their African songs. Sunday evening at the school Sylvia, a deaf-blind girl, asked for me to teach her some dancing. She was really strong as I pulled her back and forth. We swayed to our own rhythm and I made up some little steps. She is super smart and a very spiritual person – she likes to tease too. I was just amazed with how quickly she catches on to everything. I think she really enjoyed dancing like that.

Today I got to help in the hair school for the vocational students about a beautician. They have started to introduce the students to that salon. It is really nice inside this one room building. They have tile floor and nice countertops, desks with padded chairs and big hair dryers that hang from the wall. The walls are covered in mirrors – which is actually really funny with the students because they sign to each other all the time through them. The teachers that help know a few signs but not much so I helped explain different things for her. They also have two big sinks like in one of our salons for washing hair. I think it will be a great source for the students to learn!
Until we leave the plan is to just be at the school everyday, and we will say goodbye to them on Friday night then leave early Saturday morning.


Honestly my favorite time of the day is just being able to work one on one with any of the students or playing games with the children. I don’t think that I could ever become a teacher for real. I am excited to show you all pictures so you can see these beautiful children. This whole experience has been very spiritual for me, I know that the Lord loves all of these children so much! There are a lot of corrupt things that happen at the school with the teachers and with the whole system but there is still hope for these kids. This experience is one I will never forget.

A few stories

Happy 4th of July.

We didn’t quite have the 4th of July celebration, but we did have Ghana Republic day on July 1st that was the same sort of holiday! Most businesses were shut down and families were all out together. Our school was on holiday so we decided to go visit some waterfalls that are about 2 hours away from us. The doctor that we are renting our guest house from has a daughter in the local junior high school. Their class was going to the same waterfalls and offered to let us join their group. It worked out perfectly, the 9 of us piled in the giant green trotro with 15 other thirteen year old kids and their leaders making one smelly ride. They seemed really excited to have the whities with them for the day. One little boy named Kelvin stuck close to us the whole day and then at the end he asked for my phone number… they learn at a young age haha it was really funny. On the drive, we went past towns where people were all out celebrating the day with giant speakers blaring Obama music. I love the road trip to new towns because we pass a lot of beautiful greenery and mud hut homes.

The first waterfall was Akaa and the second was Boti falls. The second was much bigger but both had really brown water that didn’t look very beautiful. There were SO many people and we were literally shoulder to shoulder walking down these steps to the falls. I learned that you have to be aggressive here to get where you want to go. There really were no manners or any courtesy because we were cut off and shoved to the side the whole time. But they are all so friendly to each other at the same time, everyone talks to everyone and they are all out to have a good time. We were called after the entire day and it was the funniest thing to the people if we spoke one word in Twi. It was a day of madness. At Boti falls after seeing the water we went on a hike to umbrella rock that was more of a hike than we expected. The Ghanaians were not dressed well for the event either, many in tight jeans or their little party dresses on. But they were climbing up the mountain just the same, and helping each other along the way. I was so amazed at a few women who had big tins of boiled eggs on their heads and a baby on their back climbing alongside us. The mountain was really steep and slippery! At the top they somehow had gotten huge speakers to blast some music and have a dance party. It was HOT and crowded and a lot of Twi goin’ on. It took awhile to gather all of the students back together at the end of the day. It was a break from school, but not much of a break because we were on our feet the whole day. It was a lot of fun!

Last week during breakfast time I went into the school’s library with Suzy to see what it was like. One room with two walls with about three shelves each full of books. They were donated by someone from Europe and had mostly old books in all different subjects. What made us a little angry was that we realized all of the materials the teachers really have to help teach the students with pictures and good stories, but they aren’t taking advantage of what they have! I don’t think they realize what they have or are too lazy to try to find better ways to teach the students. Part of the school has a vocational section where students who aren’t able to pass the state tests go and learn some sort of skill whether it is sewing or cooking or doing hair. They do this in hopes to give them a certificate so they can work after school somewhere. They have classes at the same time for English and math. They all came into the library, about 6 or 7 students, and were trying to read different story books. Suzy and I spent some time going through reading books with them and it was such an amazing experience. They were so eager to learn and acted so excited about any sort of sign you could help them with. I sat back and really could feel the love that God has for those kids. One girl’s name is Bernice and she told me about how her father is dead and she hasn’t seen her mother since she was 7. She lives at the school year round, and she is so happy. I loved working with her reading through a pottery story because when I tried to explain a word she would give me a lot of feedback and put the word into her own story. Another girl’s name is Dita and she is 23 but I think she has another disability that makes her act like a young teenager. She is the sweetest thing and is always smiling. I worked were her for a long time doing division and she just wasn’t understanding it, but she never got frustrated, she kept on smiling and acted so excited to do what she could.

On Friday the Ghana’s Most Beautiful woman came to the school. It is like the Miss America coming to a school at home so it was a big deal for everyone. They had breakfast early so they could set up the dining area for the visitor. She said she would be there at 10 but wasn’t there until 11:30 – typical of the culture. I don’t understand why they are so bad about that. This woman knew some sign language because her parents were deaf so the kids were really excited when she signed a little bit to them. It wasn’t very clear to me but they students seemed to understand, but they may have been just acting like they did. When she met Sylvia the deaf blind student she had a disgusted look on her face as Sylvia felt her to see what she looked like. When an event like that happens at the school there is no school because there’s no hope of getting any of the students back in the classrooms to do anything for the rest of the day.

One student Amegashie helped me make this paper crane and I still had it when we all stood outside to take a picture. The young kids saw and I have never seen a flapping piece of paper make kids so happy. They all wanted to try it so the little crane got passed around and kids were smacking each other to get a turn. The joys of bringing anything to show.

Friday afternoon I went to the school with Kelsey and the little boys had a small lemon with chunks poked out that they were kicking around so I joined in. We were playing keep away and chase the lemon while giggling for a long time until some of the older primary boys had a real ball. We all ran over to the field and played soccer! They thought it was the best thing that I was running around with them! At the same time there were some young kids that had a kite they were chasing after so I just ran around all afternoon until they had dinner. I was really sweaty on my back and so they all kept asking me why I had water on my back. That was one of the funnest experiences to just run around and play soccer with the kids!

Saturday our morning started at 3:40 AM to journey to Shai Hills. Our trotro was late, but we still got there as the sun was coming up. There were wild baboons that came up right next to our car and one mom had a baby on its back. We got a tour guide named Abraham who was very excited to show us the land. Shai was this big grassland with a small mountain in the middle and sparse trees around. It looks a little bit like Lion King. We weren’t supposed to drive our trotro through because it wasn’t made for it but Abraham gave the go ahead so we went 4-wheelin through the rocks and dirt. We hiked up to the Asanti Cave and got to see a big cave full of bats. It smelled awful! But I got to climb through small spaces and hang upside down on branches so it was really fun. We also got to see a lot of antelope and birds. Our trotro was able to creep really slowly up to a pack before they took off, same with a big group of baboons.

We headed on the dirt road back home which turned to med and then suddenly we were stuck! Like really stuck. 1 ½ hours stuck in clay. We got out of the care and tried to push – 9 girls and 2 boys – but it wasn’t budgin. We tried putting trees under the wheel, had Tylka drive the clutch as we rocked the thing, Abraham tried cleaning the wheels out, we tried it without giving it gas and the trotro was not going to move. Then we decided to say a prayer. Abraham was amazing, he had the most positive attitude for the entire time. We were standing there when all of a sudden he was like Scorpian and grabbed the thing right by our feet. It stung him! When we tried calling the reception for some people to come help they got mad at Abraham because we weren’t supposed to drive the trotro out there in the first place. And it’s Africa so even if help was coming it would have taken For-e-ver. Well our prayers were truly answered when a Toyota Front runner pulled up that had some Australians and Ghanaians willing to help us. We tied a rope between the two cars and will all of us pushing were able to pull the tro-freakin-tro out of the clay. We were all screaming and clapping, Kelsey cried and Abraham high-fived us all. Mud covered, thirsty, and hungry we celebrated by listening to “Eye of the Tiger” and cautiously made our way back to the paved road. It made the whole adventure very memorable day.

The big event coming up for Ghana this week is Obama visiting the country on Friday. Everyone is very excited. At church on Sunday the man giving the opening prayer mentioned being thankful that “His excellency, even President Barrack Obama is visiting our chosen country of Ghana”. It was really funny. At church we met an LDS girl named Lauren who is from the US and is here all alone! She is living at the orphanage she works at just outside of Madina. I don’t know who she is doing it all by herself, I think that would be so lonely and unsafe! She said that her friend was going to come with her but couldn’t last minute so she just decided to come anyways. I am really impressed with what she is doing, and it also made me so grateful for my own group that I’m with. The girls are so awesome and I am happy to share this experience with them. One more week before we head home.

Ghana and Vomit

This week started out amazing and ended a little rough but is on the uphill again. Ill start with the good stuff.

School is starting to get down to the wire because the kids have tests the Monday after we leave here that determine if they are able to move onto the next class. JSS Prep is one of the biggest deciding classes to see who can move into JSS 1. I was told that only 5 girls and 5 boys are able to move. With 18 kids in my class, more girls than boys, it makes me really sad that a lot of them wont be able to continue with their education! I really dont understand why that is a rule for their school, and if they follow it for sure. I know that JSS 2 has more than 5 girls in it so I am not sure how that happened.

In the mean time teachers such as the science and social studies teachers are taking advantage of the extra time they are allotted to finish the material they are supposed to teach and havent yet. It is good because at least they have a teacher, but bad because the kids are bored with one subject really quickly and dont pay attention. It is so confusing to the teachers that just copying something off the blackboard doesnt help them understand the English. The problem is even if the kids may understand a concept in something like math, if they dont understand the instructions they still wont be able to answer correctly. I am often overwhelmed with trying to teach something with English because they forget the basics so fast AND many of the prep students dont show the desire to pay attention for very long.

The weather has cooled off so much since we first got here, we are definitely in the Rainy season now! Suzy and I helped the social studies teacher give a lesson the other day about the two seasons. They only have wet and dry. The wet season is from March to October but June/July are the rainiest parts. Mampong is up on a hilly area compared to Accra and I have been surprised at night because we dont use our fan anymore and I have gotten a little chilly!

On Friday I worked on some math problems with a girl named Belinda in my class. She is really interesting, sometimes hard to work with her because she wont let me finish explaining before she tries to guess how to do the problem. She is really smart and catches on quickly though. She doesn't smile very much, but I had her giggling a little when I would pull faces if she made a mistake. Another primary school student named Priscilla (she helps me wash my clothes every week, she is in P-5) came into the room and so we started doing English. We all discussed nouns and made lists of examples. It was difficult but I think we made some progress! Honestly, individual work is the best way to be sure they understand the concept.

One of the teachers I work with the most often is the prep science teacher named Margaret. She tries signing and is ok, but pretty difficult to understand, and I know the kids don't understand her very well. She is really nice though and really cares about the students, wants them to at least stay in the classroom and not be idle. On Friday she gave me this little wood stick and said it was called sorkordua (so-ko-dwea) or chewing wood in English. She told me that a long time ago people would chew on it to build strong teeth, then use the frayed end to brush their teeth. She had broken hers in half so I felt a little obligated to try the thing. It was REALLY bitter and tasted like I was chewing on a piece of wood. She told me that it was good to drink water after because it becomes sweet. It also helps you if youre feeling nauseous to keep it down. I could only chew on it for so long and had to toss it. Margaret was chewing away on hers and it was gone within the hour.

On Friday I went to the high school because a community building group was visitng to help the school by donating rice, a big polytank of water, and toilet paper. They were also helping repaint some of the buildings. I guess they were here last year to help the school and were impressed with how appreciative they were so they wanted to give again. The students signed a song and did some really awesome cutlural dances. After I went back to the primary school because P-4 and P-6 were playing a soccer game. The little girls including Lina and Ruth played with me. We wrote names in the dirt and then my notebook was passed around for the kids to write their names. They love to see me write all of our family names whether it is on paper or in the dirt to see if any are the same as one of their names. That is when it started raining... and continued raining for about 4 hours! We were dragged under the coverage for the dining hall and were stuck there while the kids ate and then played. We had no food and no bathroom :) It turned out to be one of my favority afternoons! When I finally decided to get wet, a huge group of all the older primary girls and the JSS girls were out dancing in the rain. We did some African & Ballet moves that they were so interested in trying. We then did the math song that I made up in a huge circle and they were so into it, it was SO much fun! We were all soaking wet after and giggling with each other. It was an unforgettable experience.

My week wasn't so good at the end because I woke up Sunday night very sick from 1:30 to 5:30 in the morning. I soon found out 3 other girls, Kelsey, Catharine, and Charity were all sick as well, so we were all the sicklings home in bed for the day. I am doing so much better today, so no worries. We were trying to figure out what it might be, but figured that it was just a bug that affected us all. The Kibi group came to stay over the weekend and we all went to the temple on Saturday.

The sweetest thing was the students. A group of 4 came to the house in the afternoon while Kelsey and I were laying in bed. One girl named Bernice said she was going to pray for us. She signed a prayer that included that the devil would not get our bodies so that we may become strong again :) They were all really worried. Two other girls came by and brought some bread. When I went back to school today some were asking me if I went to the hospital and many said they prayed for me. I think the hospital must be more of a casual thing to go to if you are sick for just a day.

The temple was, of course, an incredible experience. The spirit was so strong and it felt like we were home. I ran into the mission presiden'ts wife outside the temple and she said that her husband was first called as an area president for 2 years and then he was just called as the mission president so they will be here for 5 years total! Crazy! I am sure that their home is really nice, but with unreliable power and everything that would be hard! She had her own car but I would be scared to death to drive here.

Time is slipping away. I am excited to be with everyone again, but I will be so sad to be gone from these kids. It's going to be super bitter sweet. Everyone is getting along pretty well still and I really love our whole group. Until next week.....